Stephen Crainey: Fleetwood were bullied and outfought by Shrewsbury

It was Crainey’s first game in charge since being named as the club’s head coach until the end of the season, having taken seven points from the previous three League One games.

But second-half goals from Ryan Bowman, Josh Vela and Daniel Udoh did the damage at Highbury as the visitors leapfrogged Crainey’s charges.

Town, who dropped to 19th place, are still two points above the dreaded trapdoor but have now played more games than all the teams below them.

Crainey said: “I’m not singling players out but I think collectively it was just a write-off game.

“It’s the first time since I’ve been in charge and I want it to be the last.

“I thought from the first whistle to the 90th minute we weren’t at it at all.

“That’s not been like us, so from that point of view I’m really disappointed.

“I thought they were outfought, I thought they were bullied today, so they need to learn from that moving forward.

“I just thought we were a yard off it in everything we did, whether it was passing the ball or getting tight to people and making the right decisions. In that sense I was really disappointed.”

To make matters worse for Crainey, Ged Garner was the latest first-teamer to pick up an injury and went off in the 36th minute – the 10th player in the club’s treatment room.

It left Scot Crainey hoping for a quick response, should Wednesday’s fixture at Covid-hit Wigan Athletic go ahead.

He added: “The first half wasn’t great, we never got into a groove. At half-time I tried to reset them but it just carried on for the rest of the game, which is disappointing. The lads are hurting in there and we want a reaction quick.

“I was just disappointed with the whole game today. I thought they were outfought in every department and we need a big reaction.”

Thanks for reading. If you value what we do and are able to support us, a digital subscription is just £1 for your first month. Try us today by clicking here.